2022 LC Thread—New Year, New Thread

The president of Finland (like parliamentary Republics in general) is a ceremonial head of state with some minor reserve powers which are typically exercised under advice of the government (aka the PM).

TLDR the PM is the “head honcho”.

Damn. Didn’t know it was him until I saw the tattoo.

So my grandfather died last night. It wasn’t unexpected, he was in his late 80s, lost his wife just before covid and was clearly declining. Went in a pretty good way, was doing ok and then just collapsed and died. He had managed to go to this big family reunion a few weeks ago, which was a big goal of his. A good death all in all.

I always feel for the living, and specifically my dad here, who loved his father a ton. My grandfather developed abhorrent political views as he got older, whether it was from brainwashing of Fox News as he developed dementia or a baseline racism that was always there. I cut him out of seeing him in real life after he refused to get a covid vaccine.

Still though, he clearly wasn’t always like that. He raised 5 children who all love and respect him, with 4/5 being decent people. That seems solid. He volunteered for the army during the Korean War and was technically a vet despite never seeing combat, but he jumped out of planes to get ready so that seems fair to me. He went on to use the GI Bill to get a doctorate in mechanical engineering, which he used to work in the EPA to develop fuel efficiency standards and then worked for decades at Ford.

He was a good, kind, quiet man who made the world a better place.

Now I just need to figure out if I can get out to Michigan to see my dad… and I’m not sure I can.

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that’s super tough CN. getting news of relatives dying sucks really bad and doesn’t get easier

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My grandfather also got meaner and more miserable over the several years before the end. Went from thinking trump was a buffoon to being all in on him. The result was that most all of the family stopped seeing him over the last couple of years. I think about it a lot because I feel bad about the situation, but I also don’t know what the hell you’re supposed to do. He was also an extremely loving and compassionate the whole time I knew him until he started changing.

This together with the black hole audio makes it seem like the soundtrack to the universe is borrowed from The Exorcist.

https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1564979803417092098?t=hwnSiaRcgkftlsZy4vubpw&s=19

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I think society can be tougher on people who served and never saw combat. They don’t get as much sympathy but they still have to endure years of subservience that I can’t even imagine dealing with.

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booooo excessive heat warning. til when? next monday. Oh, like this coming monday? no. NEXT monday.

we’ve had such a temperate year in coastal southern CA, I guess it was too good to last. i can’t remember til recently a single day above 80 degrees this entire last year.

Holy shit!

https://twitter.com/tdisportsclips/status/1565022409056555008?s=21&t=kfOaTvOC-ADa88cKnsOEXQ

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Fuck hawk though (the announcer)

his career killing hip injury was because he was so strong his body couldn’t handle the forces inflicted on them. possibly one of the most gifted athletes of all time.

his career killing hip injury was because of his very likely steroid use. possibly one of the most gifted athletes of all time.

Fixed it.

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lol, yea, that too, fair point

Bo knows throws.

Unless you’re going to provide some evidence, I call bullshit.

Jackson’s stance against the Bucs is legendary as were the stories of his younger days of playing sports. He absolutely earned the benefit of the doubt.

Look we don’t have to be naive here. The evidence is his era, body build, and injury types.

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The only think I can remember about Bo and steroids was that he successfully sued a newspaper for defamation for claiming he used steroids. I guess it would make sense that he used because in that era a lot of pro athletes probably did and got away with it because testing was lax or nonexistent. I don’t think we’ll ever really know.

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Great throw but how was it in any way “flat footed”?

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I will also point out that it is really impossible to tell, given the poor fidelity of the era’s recording technology, that he is really throwing a regulation bseball. It could easily be some kind of small rocket.

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Being one of the only athletes to ever file a defamation suit while also turning down big money and fame to prove a point based on principle is way more convincing evidence than the generic criteria you just trotted out.

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